Merchandise display hooks are utilized in a wide variety for the display of carded merchandise and the like. Typically, such merchandise display hooks are formed of wire, providing one or more outwardly extending wire arms for the support of merchandise and/or information. At the back of the hook, there is mounted a base plate or base member, by which the hook may be secured to a display panel. Typically, the base member is provided with a pair of L-shaped lugs engageable with adjacent openings in an apertured panel board.
To an increasing extent, merchandisers setting up point-of-purchase displays with merchandise display hooks are utilizing in conjunction therewith an information label, containing such information as price, product description, bar code information, etc. The bar code information is of particular significance, in that it enables semi-automation of the task of inventorying the display products. Accordingly, it is becoming more common for merchandise display hooks to incorporate a first wire-like arm (sometimes two) for the support and display of merchandise, and a second wire-like arm, extending above the first, for support of an information display label. Particularly advantageous forms of merchandise display hooks for this purpose are shown in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,351,440, 4,405,051 and 4,474,351, issued to Trion Industries Inc., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The present invention is directed to merchandise display hooks of the general type reflected in these earlier patents, but incorporating features of improvement particularly with respect to the mounting of a label support on the end of a wire-like arm.
In accordance with a particular aspect of the invention, an improvement is made in a merchandise display hook of the general type described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,051, with particular reference to improvements in the plastic label holder mounted at the outer end of the display hook. More specifically, the improvements of the present invention are directed to the provision of a novel and improved plastic label holder, which is of molded construction, incorporating features to facilitate the initial installation of the label holder on the hook device and to assure precise and uniform positioning of the label holder.
In the hook design of my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,051, a label support arm is provided at its outer extremity with a rectangular metal plate, which is preferably secured by welding. The metal plate is of a standard size and configuration for all sizes and styles of hooks. The label holder itself is a plastic device of extruded construction, having continuous horizontal flanges at the rear which are slideable laterally over the metal mounting plate. In the prior device, the plastic label holders were of extruded construction, which accommodated low cost manufacture of the label holder material in continuous strip form, which could then be cut to any predetermined length to be customized for individual users. The display hook of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,051 has been extremely successful commercially. Nevertheless, we have perceived opportunity for still further improvement, particularly in the area of label positioning.
Customarily, in the marketing of a two-part display hook, such as shown in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,051 it is customary to ship the two parts in disassembled condition, with the final assembly being performed by store personnel. This gives the store management the desired flexibility with respect to the size of the label holders etc. One of the disadvantages, however, is that the store personnel may be somewhat careless in centering the extruded label holders on the metal mounting plates, which may detract from the visual appearance of the overall display. Additionally, the label holders are subject to subsequent lateral movement on their mounting plates, either by customers or store personnel, even though they are mounted rather tightly on the metal plates. This too can make a merchandise display look less neat and orderly than desired.
In accordance with the present invention, a new design of plastic label holder is provided, which is mountable on the standard metal mounting plate, but which is locked in a fixed, precisely centered position for optimum visual effect. More particularly, a novel and improved plastic label holder is provided which is of molded construction, and which incorporates mounting and positioning flanges and abutments for precisely locating the label holder on the metal mounting plate.
In general concept, the use of molded label holding plates is of course not new. For example, a molded plate was proposed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,440. Nevertheless, the use of molded label holding plates has not heretofore been commercially successful because of what was thought to be the inherently higher cost of the molded device. In accordance with the present invention, however, the molded plastic label holder is so designed and constructed that it can be mass produced on high speed, automatic molding machinery, such that its cost is entirely competitive with label holders of extruded construction. The new label holder is functionally greatly superior to the extruded item, however, because of the facility with which the molded label holder may be mounted on the hook and the positive manner in which the label holder is positioned.
To advantage, the improved molded label holding plate of the invention includes spaced, vertically disposed mounting flanges, which are open at the bottom for vertically downward application over a flat metal mounting plate. Abutment means at the upper edge of the label holder limit the downward movement thereof and serve to position the label holder on the metal mounting plate. A resiliently deflectable locking element, which is displaced during the initial application of the label holder over the mounting plate, returns to its normal position when the parts are fully assembled, and serves to lock the label holder in position on the mounting plate. The locking element, accessible from the rear of the label holder, is normally concealed by the presence of a label on the holder from the view of the casual observer to minimize unauthorized removal of the label holder.
In accordance with one of the specific aspects of the invention, the molded plastic label holder is provided with vertically elongated openings in the front face of the label holder, directly in front of mounting flanges provided at the back of the label holder for engaging the vertical side edge margins of a metal mounting plate. The provision of the elongated vertical openings allows for the insertion of mold elements from the front portion of the mold, through the body of the label holder, to define the front facing surfaces of the mounting flanges. This allows for the use of simple, high speed automatic molding machinery in the formation of the relatively complex flange structure. The use of such machinery is of course critical in enabling the functionally superior molded part to be manufactured on a price-competitive basis with the extruded unit.
As an additional feature of advantage, the molded plastic label holder is provided, in the regions below the mounting flanges, with downwardly extending, divergently related integral ribs projecting from the back surface of the flat, plate-like label support structure of the label holder. These ribs serve not only to add strength to the lower portion of the flat label holder, but they are arranged and located to assist in guiding the metal mounting plate into the confined slots formed by the mounting flanges and thus to facilitate the initial mounting operation.